U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland is considering handing down a longer sentence than called for in federal sentencing guidelines to a woman who has admitted leaving her infant son to die in her home in 1998.

Dana Deegan, 34, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Dec. 10. Under a plea agreement entered into court record on Nov. 30, prosecutors agreed to dismiss an indictment charging Deegan with first-degree murder and false statements in exchange for the guilty plea.

Second-degree murder carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, a $250,000 fine, five years of supervised release and a $100 special assessment. Deegan has agreed to pay the $100 special assessment, according to the plea agreement.

Based on Deegan's lack of criminal history, federal sentencing guidelines likely will call for a sentence of between eight years and one month and 10 years and one month in prison.

Deegan has admitted to giving birth to a full-term baby boy at her mobile home in Mandaree on Oct. 20, 1998. She cleaned the child, fed him, dressed him and wrapped him in towels and blankets before taking her other children, ages 1, 2 and 5 years old at the time, to her mother's home in White Shield. The newborn was alone in the home for approximately two weeks.

The child was dead when Deegan returned alone to her mobile home, which is on the Fort Berthold reservation, and she placed him in a suitcase and put the suitcase in a ditch 500 yards from her home, court documents say.

The suitcase and the child inside were found on Nov. 4, 1999, by a rancher repairing fences in the area. The child has been known as "Baby Doe" or "Baby Moses" since it was found. Community members paid for burial expenses for the child, since his identity and family were unknown at the time. Deegan was identified as the mother of the child in February by DNA tests.

When Deegan pleaded guilty in December, Hovland said he was "uncomfortable" with the expected sentencing range for the crime. Other sentences for second-degree murder have been longer, he said.

The judge said 90 percent of federal sentences fall within sentencing guidelines, but judges can depart upward or downward. Hovland noted in December that the plea agreement did not mention factors in the case that could be used to trigger sentence enhancements, such as an enhancement for the victim of the crime being a vulnerable individual.

Hovland filed a notice to counsel on Jan. 22 regarding a longer sentence, in which he said the U.S. Sentencing Commission Guidelines Manual provides for upward departures in sentencing for "extreme conduct on the part of the defendant."

"If the defendant's conduct was unusually heinous, cruel, brutal or degrading to the victim, the Court may increase the sentence above the guideline range to reflect the nature of the conduct,"Hovland quoted from the manual.

"The Court is of the opinion that the defendant's conduct in this case was unusually heinous, cruel and brutal," Hovland wrote, noting that the anticipated sentencing guideline "seems to be inadequate in light of the defendant's conduct which resulted in the death of an innocent and helpless newborn child."

Hovland said in December that Deegan would be able to appeal any sentence outside the guideline range to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Hovland said he will await a presentence report, psychological evaluation and analysis of case law before making his decision on the sentence. Attorneys in the case have until Feb. 20 to file written materials relating to the possible upward departure in sentencing.

Deegan is slated to be sentenced at 11 a.m. Feb. 25 at the federal courthouse in Bismarck.

Deegan's appointed defense attorney, Bill Schmidt, was out of the office Thursday and unavailable for comment.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Clare Hochhalter said he believes the plea agreement in the case calls for prosecutors to recommend a sentencing within the guideline range.

"We'll have to wait and see," he said about prosecutors' sentencing recommendation. "More likely than not, it will be in the guideline range."

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@bismarcktribune.com.)